jedi master

Happy Birthday to Trey Anastasio!!! Celebrating 41 years melting our brains with an amazing guitar...
trey truly is a jedi master...

new music friday

typically when paul gives me discs to listen to, i don't listen till i get home, but this one, i was SO excited about, i couldn't help myself... i have the DVD of this, but now, thanks to Paul, i have the Bonnaroo 2002 2 disc CD!! Man o Man... I had to stop everything, put in disc 2, listen to moe. Captain America, then go to paul and thank him right away.... very exciting stuff... the whole two discs are amazing... some of the artists are also on the dvd doing the same songs, but overall an incredible two discs... Panic's "Tall Boy" with Dottie Peoples is enough to get any skeptic's feet moving, and Les Claypool's cover of Aqualung's "Locomotive Breath" is masterful. Galactic's "Tiger Roll" has turned me into a fan, and John Butler's "Pickapart" has made me want to hear more... basically, i highly recommend taking a listen... yes, it's 3 years old, but music doesn't age... it just keeps getting better and better....

hippies rule!!

finally watched "Festival Express" today... man, what a time was had on this train ride... if you appreciate music, i suggest having a viewing...

movie review... a short one..

i watched "lords of dogtown" today... it was really good! Heath Ledger did a great job, almost at the Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison point of greatness... true story this movie is... it was very cool.. i suggest the rental...

blah...

i'm home sick today... first time in a long time i have actually been sick... i am flippin miserable... damn i love the midwest.... someone get me outta here... stat!

weekend update

Morning pholks…

Well, it was a nice weekend… I had my baby girl on Friday night, which was lovely; we watched Napoleon Dynamite and Office Space, two very good movies!!

Saturday led me to a double date, which was so much fun… we went to dinner with Katie, then to a cookout, then to the double date part, we went bowling! I haven’t bowled in years, so it was really a great time! Good company and good times, so all around a great Saturday!

Sunday brought me to work… again… got a lot done, but damn, this is 4 or 5 Sundays in a row… with no pay, mind you! Now, we have found out just TONS of good news at work over the past two weeks… change in bonus structure leaves me short $500 each month, which, not sure how to make that work… really sucks… Then we find out that we are now open on Sundays!! Great news! So, the only day I could come in to work to get things done, uninterrupted, is now gone. Do we get anything extra for working Sunday? Nope, not a thing. Do we get a shift differential for working Sunday? Nope not at all. Just one more thing that makes me say I H T F P!! (figure that one out!)

So, here is to a better week…

inspiration for a friday....

an internet friend of mine talks a lot about this book "The Power of Now" and how it has helped him change the way he thinks about things... i have not read the book yet, but i have heard nothing but good things about it... here is a bit of review on the book....

Ekhart Tolle's message is simple: living in the now is the truest path to happiness and enlightenment. And while this message may not seem stunningly original or fresh, Tolle's clear writing, supportive voice, and enthusiasm make this an excellent manual for anyone who's ever wondered what exactly "living in the now" means. Foremost, Tolle is a world-class teacher, able to explain complicated concepts in concrete language. More importantly, within a chapter of reading this book, readers are already holding the world in a different container--more conscious of how thoughts and emotions get in the way of their ability to live in genuine peace and happiness.

so, on my message board www.truephans.com yesterday, one of our members made a comment about "now" and i really liked it... he said - "now" doesn't mean not preparing. If you can do something about your situation, do it, if not, don't let it take you away from "now."

let's live in the "now"... happy friday

new music friday

this isn't a new disc, but it's new to me... i really enjoy this disc... kinda folky, definitely has a "cactus" feel to it....thanks to phatty for hooking me up with it...

Leo Kottke and Mike Gordon - Clone

when you least expect it....

you never know what can happen... there is someone out there that surprises you... someone you didn't expect... gonna take it slow and enjoy the time right now... it's been nice so far....

short, sweet and to the point

money is the root of all things evil...

from the movie "hitch"

"life is not the amount of breaths you take. It's the moments that take your breath away."

watched a movie today...

big surprise there!! i tend to watch a lot of movies... anyway, i watched "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" today... it was pretty good... of course, it IS british, but it was a decent movie.. worth the rental anyway!!!

new music friday part 2

WOW... modest mouse - the moon & antarctica...thanks paul... 'nuff said

new music friday

many thanks AGAIN to paul for this cd!!! I will say that the majority of my "new music" is coming from paul right now and i am really diggin' it... he listens to alot of what i listen to, but has ALOT of stuff i don't, so this little music trading partnership is working out great... he turns me on to new music, i turn him on to new music... it's a wonderful musical friendship!!!

Kings of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak

damn...

i am in a shitty mood... don't know why, don't know what happened, but damn, i haven't been in a mood like this in a LONG time... thing is, katie is in one of them moods too... get the two o'neill women in moods like this at the same time, just equals a recipe for disaster... luckily, katie has a life, so off she went to her friends house... me, on the other hand blew off my boss's baby shower, cancelled a date, and flaked on my texas friends (on their last nite here)

gonna make some noodles, put on my jammies, watch Six Feet Under and go to bed...

tomorrow WILL bring a better disposition...

you know who you are....

i know you know... i still check it everyday to see if there are new posts, just to make sure you are doing ok and hanging in there.... wish i could be your friend and help you thru all of this... my thoughts are with you.... as you know, if you ever need anything, you know how to find me...

nerves...

i have a job interview today, and i'm quite nervous about it... it's for a position at a level i have never interviewed for before, Senior Operations Manager in Tucson, Arizona. It's hard to make that jump from being a supervisor to being the boss, particularly in the call center industry, but i figured what the heck, the worst they can do is say no, right? If anything, it's good experience... wish me luck

EDIT - well... it's over... thank God... i don't think i blew it, but i don't think i aced it either.... tucson is sounding really, really, really good right now...

pretty big claim...

those of you that know me, know that one of my FAVORITE movies is "Shaun of the Dead."

Well, i'm in the video store today, taking advantage of my free birthday rental and i see this movie: Dead and Breakfast "The U.S. answer to Shaun of the Dead"

we shall see...

EDIT - well, not even close to being the U.S. answer to Shaun of the Dead... first of all, these are probably the smartest zombies i have ever seen, they speak very clearly, no moaning (who died and made you fucking king of the zombies?) they don't lumber around... i mean, geez, everyone knows that zombies are either really slow or really fast, but not just a normal person with bad make up!! (thanks ben for the zombie lesson... at least i learned something!!) although i must say, Randall Keith Randall was pretty funny...

a time to reflect...

this past year has been nothing but hell, personally, professionally and financially. this past year has brought love and loss into my life more than i could have ever imagined. this past year has brought trouble with the law for a family member. this past year has brought a serious illness for a loved one. this past year has brought me the lack of trust. this past year has made me question myself, something i usually don't have to do. so, will i be glad to see my 37th. year pass? you bet your sweet bippy i will...

So, here is to 38... Cheers!

so much for going to bed early...

i have friends from el paso in town and they called tonite... "let's go out and party" they said... well, i was in my pj's, but i thought, "how often am i gonna be able to see friends from el paso while in peoria, illinois?" so, i went...

drank a little, danced a lot, but then.... "let's go to the strip club" came outta david's mouth... sure, let's go... i have never been, in all of my almost 38 years, never been to a tittie bar...

so, we went... and i must say, i was B O R E D as hell... i think that if i was there with "someone" (i.e. some attractive man that was into me as much as i was into him) then it woulda been COMPLETELY different... i mean, honestly, i can look at boobies all day in the mirror...

so, i have lost my "strip club" cherry.... kinda wish i could get it back!! :-)

went to a wedding reception tonite...

can't even remember the last time i have been to a wedding reception... i decided tonite though, if i ever get married again, all the music will be planned ahead of time...way too many slow songs being played... i understand the need for slow songs at a wedding, but to go from nelly to some sappy shania twain song to g&r is a bit of a stretch...

new music friday part 2

man, it's been a good week for music... thanks to lucas this time... nice jazzy/bluesy/jammy stuff here!!!

new music friday

wow... thanks much to paul for turning me on to THIS... check this one out... a bit "pop" and a bit "indie"... guest artists include EmmyLou Harris.... a lot of "real world" in this disc... you can get two free downloads at www.amazon.com I highly suggest taking a listen...

the band is Bright Eyes, the disc is "I'm Wide Awake It's Morning"

1. At The Bottom Of Everything - (with Jim James)

2. We Are Nowhere And It's Now - (with Emmylou Harris)

3. Old Soul Song (For The New World Order) - (with Emmylou Harris)

4. Lua

5. Train Under Water

6. First Day Of My Life

7. Another Travelin' Song

8. Landlocked Blues - (with Emmylou Harris)

9. Poison Oak

10. Road To Joy

perfect little pill when you've had one of those days

what a week...

man, no rest for the weary, i tell ya....

come back from 4 days off to a 4 day work week... sounds great, in theory... until you put in two 15 hour days back to back, with at least two more ahead of you.... then we find out today that they are changing our "bonus" structure... not a good thing, not at all... it will negatively effect 90% of our supervisors... great way to build morale, huh? then you got others such as myself that are busting our humps and not getting any recognition for it... thank God i updated my resume on monster!!

here's hoping the job fairy comes knocking my door.... somethings got to give, cuz this shit just ain't working....

long, lazy weekends part 3...

well, here it is, the end of the weekend... it was nice to do absolutely nothing all weekend, yet quite boring at the same time... figured i would update you all on my movie reviews for the rest of the movies i watched... i already did 2 of the last 5 rentals, they are listed in the previous post... so, here are the other two... plus, added another movie to the mix...

Team America - World Police - from the makers of South Park... i do believe that i will forever be haunted by the picture of puppets have sex in multiple positions... quite disturbing... although the theme song is etched in my brain forever!!!

Romper Stomper - this movie is incredible... this is the movie that started it all for Russell Crowe. It is very disturbing, in a kind of "jaw dropping" way... it's about skinheads in Australia... it truly is worth a viewing, although i must warn you now, it's shocking... even Katie said "wow, this is even a bit much for me" yeah, it is, but definitely worth the rental

The Shawshank Redemption - incredible movie... i see why so many people liked it... i think i may need to add this one to my collection...

The one that i added to the mix was in my top ten... Shaun of the Dead... now, those of you that know me, know this is one of my favorite movies... unfortunately, this movie has a history for me... i haven't been able to watch the whole movie in a while, until today....i made it all the way through! This movie kicks so much ass, if you haven't seen it, i highly recommend it... it's british, it's funny and it's about zombies!! A romantic comedy with zombies ... so, to quote Freddy Mercury in the "kill the queen" part:

Don't stop me know
i'm having such a good time
i'm having a ball

nite all... back to the old grind tomorrow!!

long, lazy weekends part 2...

well, i thought i would update on the movies i watched yesterday and the ones i rented today...

Saturday brought the following:

A Bronx Tale - Robert DeNiro's directorial debut - quite good actually - the movie was from like 1993 or something, but it was very good, nice mob action, bit of a love story, 2 thumbs up

Donnie Brasco - this was a good one - amazing to see how that life could suck someone in... johnny was great, al pacino, well, he is always good... very good movie... again, 2 thumbs up

Dead Poets Society - thoroughly enjoyed this movie, the power that a teacher has and the influence on kids lives is amazing... our teachers should be paid much more...i cried during part of it... very good, 2 thumbs up

Big Fish - katie and i watched this one together, we both cried during this one... very good movie... 2 big thumbs up

Casino - WOW - what a movie... i can't believe it took me this long to watch it... vegas and mob action, what a combination... excellent movie... 2 huge thumbs up

So, today took me back to hollywood video... here is what's on tap for today...

Secret Window, Traffic, Romper Stomper, The Shawshank Redemption and Team America World Police

I have seen Secret Window and Romper Stomper before... I got those mainly for Katie, as those were two that we will watch together.... so far i have watched two of the five

Secret Window - it sucked the first time i saw it, and sucked even more the second time... the only saving grace is that Johnny Depp looked smokin' hot in this movie... katie kept saying, i want to see it, i can't believe it's that bad... yeah, well, it is

Traffic - holy cow, what a movie... i remember working in the video store when it came out and we were always out of it... everytime i tried to rent it, it was out... now i see why... excellent movie

So, i have 3 to watch tomorrow... last day of my 4 days off... wish i had 4 more coming soon....

long, lazy weekends...

the last holiday weekend of summer is upon us... major plans? Nope, took friday thru monday off at work and i'm just getting ready to start round two of movies... looks like it will be many trips to the video store for me this weekend...which is just fine, since i'm actually utilizing the tool that is on www.hollywoodvideo.com. If you register with them and rate some movies, it will recommend movies for you to watch. Here is what i rented yesterday, and some of my recommendations for today:

Sahara - it was pretty good, based on a Clive Cussler book - i remember my ex hubby reading this book, he didn't like it when it was a collaboration between Clive and someone else and that's what this book was... but overall, decent movie... and Matthew McConaughey looks mighty fine without a shirt on!!!

A lot like love - the modern day "When Harry Met Sally" (on my top ten, harry is) - cute movie, but as we all know, it's a movie, things don't work out perfect in the real world... but worth the rental

Prozac Nation - wow, this was really good, based on the book by the author Elizabeth Wurtzel (sp) - excellent... so many people, myself included, have been or is on some type of anti-depressant - it's crazy really the hold that depression has on you... it's even crazier the lengths we go thru to try to hide it...

Sleepy Hollow - yes, i know, old movie, but damn, was it good... plus, it has johnny... and not only is he incredible to look at, he is a damned fine actor

Anchorman - ok, yeah, it was funny, but not all it was cracked up to be... there were some funny parts, and i was very excited to see Vince Vaughn in it... but other than that, i'm glad i rented it vs. going to see it in the theater

So, today's movies are all old ones, but i have never seen any of them... you can kind of tell, i'm on a "mob" kick:
Casino, Donnie Brasco, A Bronx Tale, Big Fish and Dead Poets Society

off to watch movies... have a happy and safe holiday weekend....

if you can, donate to www.redcross.org help out our fellow americans down in the gulf region...